Scotland produces more than Sean Connery, bagpipes and Fat Bastard. The European country produces good music as well.
Mull Historical Society, a little-known band from Glasgow, Scotland, recently released its first full-length album, “Loss.”
The album, while neither monumental nor flawless, is well worth the time spent listening to it. Whether the CD is worth the money spent buying it lies in the eye of the beholder – if that beholder is fond of typical British rock such as Coldplay or Travis, there is a good chance “Loss” will be worth the $15.
In a statement, the band said it is “less troubled than Pulp, more thoughtful than Travis and easier on the ear than Radiohead.” While all of those descriptions might be slightly true, the album as a whole is not equal to the gems put out by its more famous counterparts.
Lead singer and founder of the band, Colin MacIntyre has a high-pitched, somewhat whiny voice reminiscent of some of the popular British rockers like Thom Yorke. The actual music on the CD is catchy, but there is nothing ground-breaking contained within these 11 songs. The lyrics, on the whole, are provoking but not profound. At times the words make no sense, but what CD isn’t like that?
The music, filled with a variety of instruments including piano and trumpet, is often too reliant on a strict sing-songy beat, making songs repetitious and boring when they should be moving in a new direction.
As mentioned before, the melodies are often catchy and enjoyable to listen to, as long as you don’t mind simplistic tunes.
The best songs on the album are tracks two and seven – “Watching Xanadu” and “Only I.” The first of the two is a faster-paced, acoustic guitar-driven piece that draws listeners into the album right away.
“Only I” is a slower, soulful sonata that is carried by a smooth musical line in the background. The soft piano and moaning wind instruments build toward an exciting, climatic moment around the three-minute mark.
These songs are nothing new to the world of music, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately for MacIntyre and his bandmates, with so many capable bands out there who sound similar, it’s quite a stretch to imagine Mull Historical Society making it big in the states.
But if they want to model themselves after Radiohead, making it big is not the goal – making quality music is. With a debut album like “Loss” under their belts, the members of Mull Historical Society are well on their way to accomplishing that goal.
